Project
Blacksmiths
It is particularly important for Lviv that the services of skilled metalwork restorers are readily available. There are wrought iron and other metalwork elements everywhere in the city: stair banisters, metal doors, decorative grilles, balcony balustrades, railings of all kinds and so on. The wrought iron balcony balustrades of Lviv, in all their variety of architectural styles from different historical periods are a distinctive feature of the townscape, especially as there are still so many to be seen.
City balconies are a special form of semi-public space. From the 16th to the 20th centuries, people in Lviv, enjoying the balconies of their houses were also passing their time on the streets of their city.
But today, the majority of these balconies are in a pitiful state of repair, particularly their wrought iron balustrades: metalwork has rusted, welds have split and corroded, and important components are missing. As a result, the balconies have become unstable and unsafe to use, and even a danger to passersby in the streets below.
Therefore the project’s training courses for blacksmith have as a main focus the restoration of historical balcony balustrades. Two series of extensive workshops and seminars have been carried out so far:
- balcony restoration in Virmenska Str. 17;
- restoration of the balcony in Rynok Sq. 10, which took place in public in the project’s Urban Workshop during the European Football Championship EURO 2012 in Lviv. Workshop has been located at Rynok Square and was of considerable interest to local citizens and passing visitors.
Another series of seminars has been held in October-December 2014. It focused on the historic building of the beginning of the 20th century, former insurance company Dnister in Ruska Str. 20. In course of two seminars participants, local blacksmiths, studied the building and its history from different points of view. Restoration of all studied metalwork became the final stage if two seminars.